Chapter 61: Chaos in Hearts
Chapter 61: Chaos in Hearts
Xiang Ling stared at the pouch of money in the Manager’s hand before her shocked gaze turned toward the person who had just taken out the bag of money and handed it over to the manager of the Inn.
Her gaze then drifted over to her other husbands and almost every single one of them looked just as shocked as her, except for Li Dao Ming.
"Your rooms are ready. Let the servants show you the way. And here’s the remaining money." The manager took out twenty silver taels from the pouch and pushed it toward Xin Cheng who immediately refused to take it back while adding, "Keep it and prepare the best of your dishes and wine for us. Also, arrange a big carriage and two more horses for us. I will settle the account in the morning."
The manager picked up the pouch and accepted the order. On the other hand, Xiang Ling was unable to remove her eyes from her third husband who was acting way out of his character. Moreover, she was surprised to know that he was pretty rich.
"How long are you planning to stare at me?" He suddenly asked as he turned his attention toward her. His deep obsidian and crimson eyes stared into hers as if he was challenging her to keep staring at him.
Clearing her throat, she quickly looked away for a moment before she asked, "Why are you paying?"
"Don’t think too much" - was all he said as the two of them fell behind the others and headed upstairs toward their arranged rooms.
Xiang Ling stayed silent for merely a moment or two before she tried asking another question, "Where did you get all that money from?" She kind of failed to hide her excitement this time which made Xin Cheng turn his gaze toward her. With a very solemn yet kind of mischievous look on his face, he answered, "I’m not broke like you."
"Broke?" Xiang Ling’s voice came out loud enough to catch the attention of others but they quickly resumed their walking when they noticed that she was having a conversation with Xin Cheng.
"Whom are you calling broke?" She demanded the answer from him once she was sure that the others were not listening.
Xin Cheng stopped in his tracks and turned his attention fully toward her. He arched his eyebrows high in question before replying, "You are not? Maybe I made a mistake then. How about you pay for our stay and food and will get my money back?"
Xiang Ling opened her mouth to agree but then immediately closed it. She couldn’t act impulsively. The money she had in her possession was not enough and who knew what emergencies she would be facing once returning to the City.
"I... I will pay next time." She hurriedly muttered the words before she ran after the others, disappearing from Xin Cheng’s sight in a flash.
A smile curved the corners of Xin Cheng’s lips as he watched her running away. The more he interacted with her, the more silly and cute she was becoming in his eyes. As soon as he realized the direction of his thoughts, the smile disappeared from his lips and he quickly shook his head as if to get rid of his thoughts.
Right at that moment, a very familiar person appeared in front of him, and the expression he was carrying on his face made Xin Cheng even more unhappy.
"Are you the same person who told me to not get distracted just a few days ago? What are you doing then?" Dao Ming questioned as he folded his arms over his chest and stared at Xin Cheng. The latter let out a sigh and refused to answer. Instead, he just started heading in the direction of their room.
Dao Ming quickly followed him and added, "Look, I’m not calling you out, not really. I’m just telling you not to pretend that she doesn’t matter to you. We both know that we are unable to ignore her like in the past."
"And this shouldn’t be happening." Xin Cheng replied with a touch of frustration in his tone. "She shouldn’t matter to us just like in the past. Why did she have to lose her memories and change into an entirely different person?"
Dao Ming didn’t answer because there was nothing he could say. Even though he knew her secret, he promised to keep it as long as the two of them were on good terms, and he wasn’t one to go back on his words. As for the frustration Xin Cheng was feeling, he could understand it fully well. It was indeed a very wrong time for them to get distracted, especially over a woman.
Deciding to change the topic, he asked, "The Lunar Eclipse is next week. You will be coming with me to pick the Devil Flowers, right?"
Xin Cheng slowly nodded his head in the affirmative. The Devil Flowers were one of the rarest treasures and only bloomed once in a thousand years during the Lunar eclipse. They always bloomed in pairs and could only be utilized to the best of their ability in pairs but in the past twenty thousand or so years, there had not been a single pair that survived the Eclipse. Every time, one or both of the flowers ended up dying before the end of the eclipse.
After a thousand years, another pair of Devil Flowers were about to bloom this coming Lunar Eclipse and both Dao Ming and Xin Cheng were expecting them to survive the eclipse.
Just like the others, the two of them also headed inside the room that they would be sharing and took their time to rest for a while. The sun was slowly getting closer to the horizon and the fading light of the evening brought a different kind of warmth.
Right next to their room, was Xiang Ling’s room who was currently enjoying the warm tea served by the servants of the Inn, completely unaware of the chaos that she had caused in the hearts of her husbands.